Francis Fane, 1st Earl of Westmorland
Francis Fane, 1st Earl of Westmorland, KB (1 February 1580 – 23 March 1629) was an English landowner and politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1601 and 1624 and then was raised to the Peerage as Earl of Westmorland.
Origins
Francis Fane was the eldest surviving son and heir of Sir Thomas Fane (d.1589) of Badsell in Kent, by his second wife Mary Neville (c. 1554-1626), sole daughter and heiress of Henry Nevill, 6th Baron Bergavenny (d.1587) (de jure 4th Baron Bergavenny) by his wife Lady Frances Manners.[2] Fane was the senior representative of the Fane family of Mereworth, near Maidstone, Kent, and then of Apethorpe in Northamptonshire. His younger brother was George Fane of Burston.
Career
Fane was educated at Maidstone Grammar School and in about 1595 matriculated at Queens' College, Cambridge.[3] He was admitted to Lincoln's Inn on 19 November 1597.
In 1601, with the support of Henry Brooke, 11th Baron Cobham, Fane was returned as a Member of Parliament for Kent. He was created a Knight of the Bath at the Coronation of King James I on 25 July 1603.[4] After Cobham's disgrace Fane was elected MP for Maidstone in 1604. He was re-elected MP for Maidstone in 1614 and in 1621. In 1624 he was elected MP for Peterborough.[2] On 29 December 1624, he was created Baron Burghersh in the County of Sussex, and Earl of Westmorland (1008th on the roll). On his mother's death on 28 June 1626 he succeeded her as 8th Baron le Despenser, and as de jure 8th and 6th Baron Bergavenny.
Marriage & progeny
On 15 February 1598/99 Fane married Mary Mildmay (d. 9 April 1640), daughter and eventual sole heiress of Sir Anthony Mildmay (d. 1617), of Apethorpe Hall, Northamptonshire, British Ambassador to France, by his wife Grace Sherington (1552–1620) daughter and co-heir of Sir Henry Sherington (alias Sharington) (c. 1518-1581) of Lacock Abbey, Wiltshire.[6][7] Westmorland had by Mary Mildmay seven sons (six of whom survived him) and six daughters:[8]
Sons
- Mildmay Fane, 2nd Earl of Westmorland (24 January 1602 – 12 February 1666), a poet and Member of Parliament.
- Thomas Fane, died in infancy
- Sir Francis Fane (c. 1611–1681?) of Fulbeck, third but second surviving son. He was a Royalist governor of Doncaster, and afterwards of Lincoln Castle. He was the great-grandfather of Thomas Fane, 8th Earl of Westmorland.
- Anthony Fane (1613–1643), an officer in the Parliamentary army, killed at taking of Farnham Castle.
- Col. George Fane (c. 1616 – April 1663), fifth but fourth surviving son. A Royalist officer and later Member of Parliament.
- William Fane
- Robert Fane
Daughters
- Grace Fane
- Mary Fane
- Elizabeth Fane
- Rachel Fane (1614-1681), wife of Henry Bourchier, 5th Earl of Bath (1593-1654) of Tawstock Court, Devon. The marriage was without progeny, whereupon the earldom became extinct. Her lifesize marble statue survives in Tawstock Church.
- Catherine Fane.
Death & burial
Westmorland was buried at Apethorpe on 17 April 1629. A monumental inscription survives in Mereworth Church near Badsell. He was survived by his wife Mary Mildmay, who died at Stevenage and was buried at Apethorpe, and many children.
Notes
- ↑ Blazon per Debrett's Peerage, 1968, p.1148
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 History of Parliament Online - Francis Fane
- ↑ "Fane, Francis (FN595F)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.
- ↑ "Fane, Thomas". Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900.
- ↑ Fane de Salis MSS
- ↑ Apethorpe was sold by the 13th Earl of Westmorland to Thomas Brassey, 1st Earl Brassey in 1904.
- ↑ Grace Mildmay's sister Olive (d. 1646) who inherited Lacock abbey, married a Talbot, from which eight generations later sprang the pioneer photographer William Fox Talbot (d. 1877)).
- ↑ Collins 1812, pp. 294,295
References
- Collins, Arthur; Brydges, Egerton (1812). Collins's Peerage of England; Genealogical, Biographical, and Historical 3. F. C. and J. Rivington, Otridge and son.
- R. W. de Salis, Quadrennial di Fano Saliceorum, volume one, London, 2003
- printed (History of Parliament, GEC), manuscript & family knowledge.
- P. W. Hasler (ed), The House of Commons 1558-1603, H.P.T, H.M.S.O., 1981.
- (G.E.C) G. E. Cokayne, Geoffrey H. White & R. S. Lea, The Complete Peerage, vol. XII, London, 1959.
- Rupert Gunnis, Eridge Castle and the Family of Nevill, unknown date & publisher.
- Malcolm Mercer, ‘Fane, Sir Thomas (d. 1589)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, Sept 2004; online edn, Oct 2005 , accessed 22 Dec 2006
- Link to English Heritage web-site for Apethorpe
Some Ancestors
Francis Fane, 1st Earl of Westmorland | Father: Sir Thomas Fane |
Paternal Grandfather: George Fane, Esq. |
Paternal Great-grandfather: Richard Fane, Esq. |
Paternal Great-grandmother: Agnes Stidolph | |||
Paternal Grandmother: Joan Waller |
Paternal Great-grandfather: William Waller of Groombridge | ||
Paternal Great-grandmother: Anne Fallemar or Elizabeth Hendley (?). | |||
Mother: Mary Nevill, Baroness le Despencer |
Maternal Grandfather: Henry Nevill, 6th Baron Bergavenny |
Maternal Great-grandfather: George Nevill, 5th Baron Bergavenny | |
Maternal Great-grandmother: Mary Stafford | |||
Maternal Grandmother: Frances Anne Manners |
Maternal Great-grandfather: Thomas Manners, 1st Earl of Rutland | ||
Maternal Great-grandmother: Eleanor Paston |
Parliament of England | ||
---|---|---|
Preceded by Sir Robert Sidney Percival Hart |
Member of Parliament for Kent 1601 With: Sir Henry Nevill |
Succeeded by Sir John Scott Sir John Leveson |
Preceded by Sir Thomas Fludd Sir John Leveson |
Member of Parliament for Maidstone 1604-1622 With: Lawrence Washington 1604-1611 Sir John Scott 1614 Sir Francis Barnham 1621-1622 |
Succeeded by Sir George Fane Thomas Stanley |
Preceded by Mildmay Fane Walter FitzWilliam |
Member of Parliament for Peterborough 1624 With: Laurence Whitaker |
Succeeded by Laurence Whitaker Sir Christopher Hatton |
Peerage of England | ||
New creation | Earl of Westmorland 1624–1629 |
Succeeded by Mildmay Fane |
Preceded by Mary Fane |
Baron le Despencer 1626–1629 |